


Don’t Disturb The Ghost Of You

by NewTimelineNewMe



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst With A Bittersweet Ending, Five bitches at Klaus from the afterlife but like angsty, Gen, God doesn’t like Klaus, I don’t like him, Jesus this fandom has issues, Luther Hargreeves is an asshole, Luthers gonna be less of an ass in this story ig, No Incest, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Ben Hargreeves, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Protective Klaus Hargreeves, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, Tags May Change, Theyre protective of each other and five, babies the lot of them, gunfight, i think your brother dying in ur arms justifies drugs idk, just like these children, later on anyways, mostly - Freeform, no beta we die like ben, we’re at the main plot now!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25501435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NewTimelineNewMe/pseuds/NewTimelineNewMe
Summary: Five fucked up.He had irredeemably, majorly fucked up.He wouldn’t normally admit that, but it was kinda obvious this time. Seeing how he was, you know, dead.
Relationships: Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Even Number squad plus Five, Number Five | The Boy & Ben Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Everyone, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves, klaus hargreeves & ben hargreeves
Comments: 24
Kudos: 446





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title from a Sam Smith song.
> 
> First fic for the fandom, let me know what you think!

Five was many things, but emotionally aware was not one of them. 

You can’t blame him, though, it’s not like there was group therapy in the apocalypse. Even once the Commision had basically kidnapped him into becoming an assassin, any weakness would have been exploited, much like the early days of the Academy. 

He blames that on how he didn’t pick up on the foul mood of the room.

Looking back, it should have been obvious-Allison was glaring at Luther, which she only did when he had made a major mistake. Luther was almost glaring back, and Five could count the times he had glared at her on one hand. Diego was scowling at them both, and tossing a knife up and down like an apple. Klaus was nowhere to be seen, which was extremely unusual for their extroverted brother. Vanya was also missing, which wasn’t as strange, but she normally helped the family calm down after their bigger fights, having the most emotional awareness out of all of them. 

Five picked up on maybe three of these things, if only Luther and Alison glaring at one another, but mostly because it was extremely strange. He mostly chalked it up to another fight about Vanya, Luther’s patience for the woman short ever since she had almost caused the apocalypse. Allison was much more patient, and so the two fought about her, if only once in a blue moon. He wasn’t paying much attention otherwise, having put his family in the least threatening category in his head. 

That was his first mistake, really. The second one came when he noticed Klaus’ absence, as he had been growing a strange bond with the man, and asked where he was.

“Probably off getting high somewhere.” Diego snorted, tossing his knife again. Five furrowed his brow. Klaus had been working so hard to get sober, to prove to them all that he was so much more than a junkie, and he was. 

“Not this again, Diego.” Allison groaned, turning her gaze to him. “He’s been-”

“Still don’t believe him.” Diego muttered. “He hasn’t even made an effort since we were kids.”

“Why do you find that so hard to believe!?” Allison snapped, and oh, she was mad at him too. “Why can’t you have an ounce of faith in him!?” 

“I gave that up three overdoses ago.” Diego scowled. “He just robs me, goes out to buy more drugs. Why now?” 

“Overdoses?” Luther asked, breaking his silence. 

“Oh please, like you care.” Diego snapped at him, shoving his knife in his holster harshly. “You don’t care about anyone but Allison.” 

Luther stood up with a jolt, Allison standing up after him and placing a hand on his chest. He pushed her away, and Five blinked. Luther had never done that before.

“See? Hiding behind your girlfriend.” Diego stood up, turning to walk out of the room. “No wonder you weren't good enough for Dad.”

Luther shouted, and started storming after him, Allison looking as if she wanted to murder him herself for that girlfriend comment. He moved to punch Diego, but he ducked and punched Luther himself. They continued to brawl, Five scoffing at their childish actions. He walked over to Allison, who was the most competent person in the room right now. 

“Do you know where Klaus is?” He asked.

“No,” She admitted, “But I know he’s not high.”

“Good to see someone else has faith in him.” Five said, shooting another glare at Diego. 

“Vanya believes him too,” Allison said weakly. 

“Oh? Good.” Five felt an odd rush of pride for Vanya and Klaus. Sure, he could be called a little too overprotective, but sue him. He had seen their dead bodies, had buried them himself. Five was pretty sure he was entitled to a little protectiveness. 

“Of course she did.” Diego snorted from across the room, nursing a newly formed black eye. Luther scowled at the mention of their youngest sibling, and the two continued to throw punches. 

Five scoffed again and jumped to the door, flinging it open. “I’m going to look for him, don’t wait up.” 

“Five-” Luther tried to say, but Five slammed the door before he could finish. There was no way that that wasn’t going to escalate into a full blown fight, and Five didn’t have time for that, not when Klaus was apparently missing. Again.

Five started to walk down the street, looking around as he did so. He would check Griddy’s first, then spiral out to the other crappy fast food places. If Klaus was involved in the apparent fight, which Five assumed he was, he’d want some shitty comfort food, most likely waffles.

Gunshots snapped his attention over to a convenience store a couple of blocks away. He jumped twice, landing himself right outside the store. He could see three gunmen in there. One was pointing at the cashier, who was frantically putting money into a sack, another was stationed outside the door, most likely as a lookout, and the third was pointing at a group of people-people, he noticed, with growing panic, that included his brother.

Well, at least he had found him, right?

Quickly, Five mentally calculated the best course of action. The third one held the most potential for damage, and even if the first gunman shot the cashier on instinct, he could get to the other two before he turned on the hostages. Nodding, he jumped behind the third gunman, snapping his neck in a quick twist. The others twirled around, but before they could react he jumped again to the one who was aiming at the cashier and sliced his neck with a letter opener that had been behind the counter. That left the one by the door, and so, letter opener in hand, Five ran to the final guy and stabbed his stomach before jumping a final time behind him and slicing his neck. 

Five dropped the opener, hearing it clatter to the floor. His head was pounding, and he noticed the hostages were running out of the building. Good, that’s good. He blinked again, and suddenly Klaus was standing in front of him, and Five was pretty sure he was trying to say something, but if he was Five couldn’t understand. The floor swam below him, and Five was overtaken with vertigo. 

(Klaus seemed to panic above him, although Five didn’t know why.)

He sunk to the floor, a sharp ringing in his ears. His side hurt. When did that happen? There was blood. Someone was bleeding. A hostage?

He was bleeding. 

Oh.

(Is that why Klaus was so panicked?)

“Five five five please look at me it’s gonna be okay I promise, Five please look…” Klaus’ voice grew weaker. 

He felt vertigo again, and his eyes slid shut, the darkness not helping with his head. It was still pounding, Five feeling sluggish. Cool air hit his body, and he tried to open his eyes-he found he missed the stimuli and information it gave him more than he enjoyed the darkness. It was...difficult, but he managed to open them a sliver. Everything was blurry, out of focus. Five tried his best to get it back in focus, but it wasn’t exactly working.

It was hard, and he was tired.

Maybe he could take a nap. 

Klaus was here.

Klaus is safe.

Five was tired.

“Five no please wake up-“

“‘M _tired_ ,” Five whined.

“I know, I know, just please don’t fall asleep.”

But he was so sleepy, didn’t Klaus understand?

He just

Wanted

To

Rest.

Five opened his eyes to see his siblings surrounding him, except he was on the other side of the room.

He screamed, and did not stop.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's gone.
> 
> He's gone, and it's Klaus' fault.

“No, no, no, no!” Klaus screamed. His chest burned, but he paid it no mind as he rushed to the Academy. Five was limp in his hold, and the red stain on his side was growing larger. He was almost there, almost there, so close to Mom and the others, so close to help. 

Klaus sped up, his legs pounding against the pavement. The Academy doors were in sight, and he pushed energy into Ben, making him corporeal. “Get the door!”

His ghostly brother did just that, and Klaus took the energy back, using it to push him the final length to the infirmary. He shouted for Mom, praying that she was close enough to hear. He had seen Diego on the way, so Klaus was hoping that he either came to help or got Mom if she wasn’t in shouting distance. 

Just as he was cutting off Five’s sweater, Mom and Diego came barreling in, Mom taking over from him and Diego heading towards Klaus. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“I-” Klaus took a deep breath, the room starting to go blurry. “I was at the store, picking up...snacks. There were these-people, and they had guns, and Five was there suddenly and he killed the gun guys but he got hurt, he’s hurt, Diego! And it’s-he’s hurt, real bad.” Klaus wanted to say more, but he wasn’t sure he could without breaking into tears. 

“I-uh, sit down.” Diego told him, pushing him to a bench on the sidelines. “Mom’s gonna h-help him now.”

“But-” Klaus looked past Diego to where Five was lying, Mom holding pressure to the wound. “Mom? How...how is he?”

“Critical condition.” She replied smoothly. “The bullet entered his heart, but I am unable to tell whether or not it hit his Aorta artery.”

“If it did?” Klaus asked. 

“Certain death.” 

Klaus sucked in air, starting to rock back and forth as he stared at Five, mentally pleading with him.

“Klaus. It’s gonna be okay.” Ben said, now sitting next to him. “I-”

“You promise?” He asked, turning his gaze to Ben, who was now staring at Five in shock. “Ben? What’s-”

“He’s fading.”

Panic coursed through Klaus, and he stood up, drawing the attention to him. “ _What_?”

“He’s fading, Klaus.” Ben repeated. “He’s...dying.”

“No, no, no, no no.” Klaus ran to Five’s side, pushing aside Grace, who was still trying to stop the flow of blood. Five’s blood. “No, no.”

“Klaus.” Ben was there, Ben was _dead_ and Five would be too. Except he wouldn’t, right? He was fine, Five had to be fine. 

“Klaus, there’s nothing you can do.” 

He flinched away. “NO, there has to be. I-I have to do something!”

“Klaus.” Diego was next him now, but Klaus only had eyes for Five. “It’ll be okay, okay?”

“No, Diego. It won’t.” It really won’t, will it.

Someone new started screaming, and Klaus stiffened as he realized who-or more rather what it was. He looked at Ben for confirmation, and slowly, sadly, he nodded. Because of course, his death was bad. Klaus couldn’t be that lucky, no.

_Klaus was lying in bed, tears still wet on his face. This drug drained his emotions, yes, but the events of today had worn on him far further than any drugs could._

_Ben was dead._

_Ben was dead, he would never hear his laugh, or tell him another joke, or hug him, ever again. He was gone._

_“Klaus?”_

_He sat up, wondering if it was Vanya, maybe even Allison, but with a shock, he realized it was a face he never thought he’d see again._

_“Ben?”_

“Klaus. Klaus, look at me.” Someone was touching him. It was Diego, Diego was touching him because Five was dead and Ben was dead but Ben was a ghost and Five was a ghost too, right?

He turned around to see Five’s ghost, looking normal except for the small hole in his vest. Five was screaming, his eyes bulging wide. Klaus had never heard Five scream before.

“Five?” Klaus asked, starting to walk towards him. Five continued to scream, and although he was staring at Klaus, his eyes didn’t seem to quite match his. “Five?”

“Klaus.” Ben said apprehensively. 

“Five,” Klaus repeated, ignoring Ben. 

“Klaus, I don’t think-”

“Five, please,” Klaus was only a foot away from him now. 

“Klaus, listen, he may not be-”

“Shut UP!” Klaus shouted. “Five is-you have to be- _Five_ ,”

Klaus wasn’t sure when he had started crying.

“Five, please-” _Please come back. Please don’t be like them._

“Klaus,” Diego said gently. 

He broke down, ugly sobbing. Five was gone. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m-”

Diego shushed him. “Not your fault.”

“It is,” Klaus cried. “He’s-and it’s me!” If he hadn’t gone out, Five wouldn’t be screaming his head off. If he hadn’t pushed at Luther, the fight wouldn’t have happened in the first place. 

Speaking of the man, Luther came barreling in with Allison, pausing when he saw Klaus crying on the floor. “Grace said there was an emergency?”

Allison made a pained choking sound, and pushed past Klaus and Diego to Five. “Is he-”

“...Yeah.” Diego told her.

“Summon him.” Luther glared at Klaus, looking as if he was two second away from punching someone.

“He’s already here.” Klaus admitted, his eyes squeezed shut. “He’s so _loud_.”

“Make him visible, like you did with Ben.” Luther demanded. 

“I-I don’t-“ Klaus stuttered, about to cry again. 

“DO IT!” He roared. Klaus looked up, trying to find a supportive face, but he only found pitying stares. 

Klaus took a deep breath and focused, pushing Five into being corporeal. His little-older brother didn’t stop screaming, sobbing, and if anything he just got louder. There was no spark of recognition in his eyes, for him or any of their siblings. 

“Happy now, One?” Klaus sneered. He pushed Diego away, making Five vanish. Everyone stared at where he had been standing, tears rolling down Allison’s cheeks. Klaus took a deep breath, trying to stop his rising headache. “Now, if you don’t mind. Allison, wallet?

She handed it to him, and she must be in some serious shock because no matter how much trust was built between them, all of the Hargreaves siblings knew to never give Klaus their wallet. Not like he was complaining. 

~~_“I’m tired, Klaus.”_ ~~

He grabbed her debit card and tossed the wallet aside, Ben giving a half-hearted complaint when he realized what Klaus was about to do. Ben could suck it. He walked out of the Academy-

_“I’m getting some snacks.”_

-To the nearest ATM, where he maxed out Allison’s card.

With his new cash in hand, Klaus let his instinct take him to the nearest dealer. He made the deal fast, nearly buying the guy dry. With a jolt, Klaus realized Five had followed him from the Academy. That wasn’t surprising, ghosts were drawn to him (and here’s where Klaus would make a joke about how sexy he was, but he wasn’t in the _fucking_ mood). What was, however, was that him not noticing meant he had gotten used to the screaming. Five’s screaming.

Klaus took a deep breath and popped another pill.

It was the first time for a while Ben didn’t even try to stop him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay before you hate me, Five will get over the shock of dying soon! It's just dying is really not a very fun experience.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She doesn’t like Him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one’s a little shorter-I just found that was the best place to end it. As always, tell me if you see any errors or let me know what you think!

She was riding her bicycle down a long dirt path. It had taken her from the farmlands to this field of flowers. She liked flowers. 

It almost made up for Him.

She didn’t like him. He was a terrible listener.

She didn’t like Him, and yet here He was. Why was He here, again? He had promised, like always, to not come back. Was it possible He was actually here because he was supposed to be here?

A quick look at Him told Her that no, this was not the case.

“Wake up.“ She told him. He did not, in fact, wake up, and just stayed annoyingly unconscious.

“Wake up.“ She said again.

Wake up.“ She repeated herself a third time, kicking him for good measure.

He groaned, clutching at where She had kicked him, rolling over and sitting up. He looked up at Her and sighed, putting His face in His hands.

“You don’t belong here.“ She told Him. “You have to leave.“

“Well, what if I don’t want to leave?“ He said. “What if I want to stay?“

“You can’t,“ She said. It’s not your time.“

“I’m not going back. I don’t want to go back.“

“Why not? You have to.“

“Five’s...dead. I’m not going back. It’s not worth it, everyone I love just ends up dying.“

“I already gave you your brother back. What else do you want from me? You can’t stay here.“

“Then make me leave,“ He taunted. “Oh wait, you can’t.“

She scowled, sitting down next to him.“You really can’t stay here.“

“-And what do you mean my brother back?“ He asked, ignoring Her. “Five is dead, last time I checked.“

“Your other brother. Ben.“

“You didn’t give him back, though. He's still dead, he’s just a ghost.”

“Yeah, he’s a ghost, but he’s not dead dead. And I did it so that you would stay away. So why are you back here?”

“...I didn’t mean to overdose.” He told Her.

“And yet you did. Will you go back yet? Your brother is upset,” She told him, offering up the information. 

“Which one?” He...genuinely asked? Did He not know all of His siblings would be terribly upset by His death? Not like She could see why, but they cared about Him.

“Uh,” She said, caught off guard. “All of them? Well, the ghost right now. But he’ll tell the others and they’ll be sad too.”

He snorted. “Press X to doubt.”

She took a deep breath, resisting the urge to slap some sense into him. Physical violence was slightly above the line of tolerable behavior for her, even when it came to Him. 

“They will. I know.” 

“Hmn.” He said noncommittally. 

“Ugh, this is _just_ like you.” She scoffed. “Look, now Diego’s crying.”

“What?” He asked, looking up for the first time. He looked shocked.

“Yeah, he’s crying. Pleading too, he looks awfully upset.” 

“I-oh.” He looked sad. 

“You have to go back.” She reminded him. “So-he won’t be sad for long?” 

“Mn.” 

A beat of silence, and She started to feel itchy. “You don’t belong here.” 

“I don’t belong down there, either.”

“Yes, you do.” She snapped. “It’s not your time yet.”

“Bullshit.” He scoffed. “Make it my time.”

“No.” She refused. 

He sighed, ever the dramatic, and flopped down on the ground. She frowned as he squished some flowers with his body.

“If I gave you your brother’s sanity back, would you leave?” She blurted out suddenly. He looked at Her, and She could see the confusion in his eyes. 

“What do you mean?” He asked, looking intrigued.

“He’s an angry spirit right now,” She explained. “I _could_ give him back his mind. Like the other brother.”

“Ben?” He said.

“Yes. I didn’t give him back his sanity, just his body. He must have loved you an awful lot. But the other one...I didn’t do that. He-“

“You didn’t?” He interrupted. “But-“

“If you would let me finish,” She talked over him snarkily, “I would explain that. Now, like I was saying, the other one died an ugly death-except he killed his killer before he died himself. Leaving him with a need for vengeance, but no one to take it out on. I could simply,” She mimed an explosion with Her hands, “Make that vengeance go away.”

“You’d do that?” He asked, awed.

“Don’t thank me just yet.” She said, holding out a hand in case he tried to come any closer. “I’m only doing this so you’ll leave. Plus, without the reason to stay, your brother might decide to cross over completely.”

“Which would mean…?”

“He’s not a ghost anymore. Dead-dead, as you said earlier.”

There was a pause as He took in the information.

“But he could be like Ben?” He said with naive hope.

“Yes.” She wasn’t one to lie, that was much more in Her sister’s resume. “So?”

“I-“ He paused. “Yes, do it.”

“Leave first.” She told Him. 

“On three?” He offered.

“One.” She said.

“Two…” He said.

“Three!” They said together.  
—  
Klaus opened his eyes to see a dingy alley, and he felt a warm _someone_ all around him. Blinking, his eyes and ears focused in on that someone crying, cussing him out.

“Oh, she wasn’t lying.”

The next thing he saw was black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side note-I’m so excited for season two!! Can’t wait to see my children again!


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diego was having a shitty, shitty day.
> 
> Two brothers dead in one day, that had to be a record or something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of repetition in this one, along with a nongraphic overdose

“Klaus, you shouldn’t take any more.” Ben said, unable to keep the nervous tone out of his voice. 

“Shut uppppp, Ben!” Klaus whined. “I can still see himmmm.” He took another four pills out of his bag, placing them in his mouth.

“Klaus. You have to stop.” Ben told him, going for the commanding angle. He’d start crying next, as much as a ghost could cry.

“Look, every time you tell me no, I’m gonna take more,” Klaus said to Ben. “It’s not like I can actually die, anyways.”

Ben sighed. Klaus has tried his card, now Ben would try his. “Yeah, but I did.”

Klaus snorted and shook his head. “You’re _fine_ , though! Maybe I’d like it better as a ghost.” Looks like Ben wasn’t getting through to Klaus tonight.

“We should go back home.” Ben said. “The sky looks gloomy.” It really didn’t, but Klaus hated getting wet, and it was often the only reason he’d seek out homeless shelters and the like. 

“Urg.” Klaus grumbled. “Go home later.”

“Klaus, we really gotta go.” Ben urged. 

“I’ll just...some more...” Klaus mumbled, his hands shaking as he poured the last of the bag into them. Ben sighed, starting to walk to the end of the alley, trying to see if anyone suspicious was coming. 

Of course, that’s when it all had to go wrong.

By the time Ben had walked back to Klaus, deeming the area safe, Klaus has started to seize, his mouth starting to foam.

“Klaus?” Ben said worriedly. “KLAUS!”

He knew the signs of an overdose, but even now he felt more panicked than he had in years. His brother continued to thrash beside him, before jolting and coming to a sudden stop. 

Ben knew before he even checked Klaus had stopped breathing. 

Ben sat down next to him, and if he had been any more alive he was sure that his own heart would have stopped right alongside Klaus’. Even now, with him knowing better than anyone that Klaus couldn’t die, he felt...scared.

What if he didn’t come back, this time?

A zap made Ben look up to see Five at his side as well, cocking his head and staring at Klaus. He was silent, Ben realized, feeling sick. 

“Five?” Ben said. The man’s eyes snapped over to him, and something about his gaze left an almost uncomfortable feeling in the air. Ben could almost _see_ the wheels turning in Five’s head, painfully reminding him of how he used to do that in life as well.

Five opened his mouth but seemed to hesitate. “...Ben?”

Ben was stunned. Five-Five was okay? He was...not alive, yes, but he wasn’t like the ghosts Klaus hated so much. “Five, you’re-“

“Ben you have to help me, help me, Ben, you have to please _Ben_ help me, please you have to help me, Ben-“ Five continued to ramble, tears starting to make their way down Five’s face.

Oh.

Ben was starting to feel envious of Klaus.

He turned away from the ghost, positioning himself so that Klaus wouldn’t have to see it when he woke up.

If he woke up. 

_No_ , Ben thought to himself. Klaus had to wake up. Eventually. 

~~He’s already lost a brother.~~

The ghost in the background continued to cry and scream, begging for help that they couldn’t give. Ben was trying to ignore it as best as he could-he blames that for how he didn’t hear footsteps approaching the two.

He whipped around, jumping from his sitting position. Coming nearer to them was Diego, who looked nervous. Diego walked right through ~~Five~~ the ghost, but stopped dead (ha) when he saw what-or rather, who-was lying in the alley. 

Diego lunged at Klaus’ wrist, and started feeling for a pulse. Ben was starting to realize just what this looked like for him, as he didn’t know Klaus was practically immortal. ...Yikes.

“Diego, it’s okay.” Ben said to him, although he knew Diego wouldn’t hear. 

“He can’t die,” Ben supplied as Diego tried to do cpr. 

“He’ll be back soon. He always is.” Ben told him as Diego started to cry.  
———  
“You _prick_ ,” Diego snarled. “You can’t do this to me. I won’t be left alone with Luther.”

Klaus had gone awful far on pranks before, but even this had to be a new...record or something. Because that’s what this was, what it had to be. A prank, right?

Right?

“Klaus, _please_.” Klaus has begged like this at Five’s side.

“No, Klaus, you can’t _do_ this to me!” Five had never woken up. 

Five was dead, ~~just like Klaus~~. 

“Please, Klaus.” Diego begged again. “I can’t do this without you.” 

A sob escaped his chest, and then they all started coming, pouring out and out with no stop in sight because Klaus was dead, Five was dead and he’d lost all of his brothers now, and he would never get to talk with them again, or read with or share stupid theories with, ever again. 

“I hate you.” Diego said. “I hate you so much, you stupid, selfish asshole. 

“...Please wake up.”

Diego was about to move Klaus to the academy when he sluggishly opened his eyes. He stared at him, slack-jawed, as Klaus said something like “She didn’t lie,” Before passing out again. 

——-

Klaus’ head hurt.

It was dark, and although he could reason that to his eyes being closed, he didn’t have enough strength to open them again. Snippets came rushing back to him, shouts of just a couple more and a monochromatic scene. 

Five. 

“FIVE!” Klaus shouted, bolting up on his arms. His head pounded with the motion, and he was definitely going to be sick later, but that didn’t concern him as much as his older brother. 

“Klaus, goddamnit, I hate you so much. You were dead, you were _dead_ , how are you still-” The voice continued to ramble, and Klaus realized it was Diego, just like She had said. 

“...Hey, Dee.” Klaus said weakly, his eyes scanning the alley. Ben was there too, hovering close to his face. “Sorry you found me in such a messy state, I would’ve freshened up had I known you were coming.”

Diego choked on a laugh, squeezing Klaus tighter. “How?”

“God doesn’t like me.” Klaus said. “So I’m technically immortal or whatever.” He shuddered, beads of sweat working their way down his face.

“Piss her off. Piss her off so much.” Diego mumbled into his shoulder. 

“Hate to break up this awfully touching moment,” A new voice said, “But there’s a suspicious person coming and he looks real mad.” 

Ben and he both whipped their heads to the voice, his jaw dropping before grinning like mad. 

“Klaus? What is it?” Diego asked. 

“Five,” Klaus responded breathlessly.

The man huffed in recognition. “Did you hear me, or have you gone deaf?”

“We heard you.” Ben said, drawing Five’s attention.

Five’s face softened. “...Ben?” 

Ben smiled at him. “Hey, Five.” 

“Ben!” Five shouted, and Klaus would have to mark this down in the books because he didn’t think he’s ever seen Five smile like that, so big and full. Five launched himself at Ben, and the two shared a ghostly hug.

Diego, who was oblivious to the reunion happening a foot and a dimensional plane away from him, stiffened in Klaus’ grip before pulling away. “We should...are you okay?”

“Just peachy,” Klaus responded without thinking. 

“You just _died_. Surely you can’t j-just be okay.”

“It’s not like it’s a new thing.” Klaus told him. Diego stared at him, agape. 

“W-What do you mean?” 

“I’ve been thrust off of this mortal coil several times,” Klaus shrugged, “Not like it ever stuck.”

“I-“ For once, Diego seemed to be at a loss for words. “We’ll unpack that later.” He scrubbed his hand on his face, standing up. He pulled Klaus up as well. “You need _some_ sort of medical...looking after, I’m taking you to Mom.”

“No, no, no, I’m fine, Dee, you don’t have to-“ He was cut off by glares from Five and Ben. “Fine. But I refuse overnight treatment.”

“You have to tell the others then. That you can’t-you can’t die.” 

Klaus started to protest, but instead just sighed. “Fine, whatever.”

“Klaus, seedy guy.” Ben reminded him. 

“Oh, and there’s a possible mugger coming our way, so we might wanna hurry.”

“Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Season two got me like ajajsjjsjsjs


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The thing was, Five didn’t want to stick around as a ghost.

The thing was, Five didn’t want to stick around as a ghost. 

Thanks to, assumedly, Klaus, he had his sanity (everything before that was just a big blur), but now all he could think about were the years ahead of him, just himself, Ben, Klaus, and whatever screamers that lurked in the corners this time. Better than being stuck in an apocalyptic wasteland with only Delores for company, at least. Even then, the apocalypse had been diverted. His mission was done, and ever since then he had been running on borrowed time, stolen from good luck and sheer force.

But now? Everyone was safe from the end of the world. Vanya was getting trained, Luther was getting help with his daddy issues, hell, even Diego was getting back into the romantic scene. 

Facts were facts, and the truth was that Five had no reason to stay. 

Klaus didn’t see it like that.

“You-you can’t be serious,” He cried, tears starting to pour down his face. Five squirmed at the blatant show of emotion. “Five, you have to-you gotta-you can totally go anytime you like, so-so you should stay.”

Five jumped over to Klaus, sitting next to him and tucking his knees to his chest. “I’m...I just-I don’t _want_ to stay.”

“But you have to.” Klaus argued. 

“I really don’t.” Five told him. 

“Yes, you do. What’ll everyone else say, huh?” The others had been ecstatic to know Five wasn’t insane anymore, and that he was still there.

“They’ll figure it out.” Five snapped. “And maybe if you got your junkie ass clean you could let me explain it to them myself.”

Klaus looked hurt, new tears replacing the old ones. “Five-“

“I don’t wanna hear whatever lame excuse you have this time, Klaus.” Five cut him off before storming away, straight through the door, almost colliding into Ben.

“You-you wanna leave?” Ben asked in a whisper. If ghosts could cry, Ben probably would be.

“I-“ He paused for a second, taking a deep breath. “I’m just so _tired_ , Ben.” Five glanced back at the room with Klaus. “I’ve lived for so long...is it really so bad I finally want to rest?”

He walked away from Ben before the other ghost could respond, going towards the kitchen where he could hear Luther and Vanya talking in low tones.

“Hey.” Five said, knowing they couldn’t hear. “I’m here.” He stared at them before sighing and walking to Diego and Mom next door, the two baking what appeared to be cookies together.

“And now the flour.” Grace instructed, Diego pouring it into the bowl. “Good job! Now, let’s see...” They walked through another step together, a faint smile growing on his face.

Five ducked out to the hallway, where Allison stood on the phone line. 

“Hey, Claire,” The Mom smiled, twirling the cord between her fingers like a child. “How’ve you been? How did your soccer match go?”

She continued to talk, beaming. Five walked past her and to the stairs, his head a little cooler now. He’d try and...talk with Klaus again. Point out that everyone was happy, yeah? Not by any means perfect, but happy. Happy and healing. 

“Klaus?” Five asked, phasing through the door. “I-I wanna talk more.”

Ben was there too, this time, sitting where Five had been. “Five.” 

“Five, hey, uh,” Klaus sniffed, trying very hard to look as though he hadn’t been crying. “I was talking with Ben, and. Uh, it’s not.” He looked at the ground. “I can’t- _shouldn’t_ tell you when to move on or whatever. That’s your decision to make. So, uh, if you want to, go into the light or whatever, I can’t stop you.”

“I...” Five wasn’t really sure what to say. This was, actually, the best case scenario for him, and after a lifetime of getting the worst case, he wasn’t quite sure what to do with getting his way. 

“That’s very mature of you, Klaus.” He settled on, smiling. 

“Just...make sure you says goodbye first, yeah?” Klaus asked. 

“Yeah. Yeah,” Five agreed, “I think I can manage that.”  
—————————————————————  
“Okay, you ready?” Klaus asked, his hands starting to glow with a blue light. 

“Hey, guys.” Five said, everyone else drinking him in eagerly. They had spent the whole day together, watching movies and other domestic crap that Five couldn’t imagine himself doing a year ago.

“Are you sure?” Klaus pouted. Five simply smiled at him, and Klaus smiled back, bittersweet. 

“I love you all.” Five said, and that’s another thing he wouldn’t have been able to imagine, too afraid of what the people around him might think to make bold statement such as that. Except it wasn’t as much of a statement anymore as it was a simple fact. “I don’t want to see you up there for a long time, okay? I didn’t spend-“ Five took a shuddering breath, his words choking up. “I didn’t spend my life getting you guys away from the apocalypse for you to drive yourself into another one.”

Everyone had tears in their eyes, Allison’ and Klaus’ rolling freely down their cheeks. 

“I’ll look after these idiots,” Ben promised, squeezing his hand before letting go. 

Five looked at his family for the last time. “I love each and every one of you. Don’t forget that, okay?”

They all nodded, and Five turned around.

With a final glance back, he walked into the light, and he had never felt more at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you crying? I’m crying.
> 
> Thank you all for joining me on this journey, making this the second multichaptered fic I’ve finished! I hope you enjoyed, and that I didn’t crush your hearts completely.


End file.
